1&1’s Windows and Linux hosting options are tried and tested.

First, consider which language you wish to use to build the website. While it is possible to use Perl, MySQL and PHP with Windows, you may find that Linux hosting is a better option for building a website in this manner. If, conversely, you intend to use applications or tools that are specific to Windows, then you may find that the Windows hosting package is the better option for this style. Making this decision before you choose your hosting package is likely to save you lots of time later on.

Linux is considered, by many, to be the best operating system for web servers. Many of the tools it utilises are open source and therefore free to use. This opens a wealth of ready-made and ready-to-use applications to power your website, like discussion boards and blogs. While these applications are available to use on a Windows operating system, many of the products are only available through licensed sources and will introduce additional costs.

Choosing the Windows hosting package will ensure that your website can be easily integrated with Windows applications during the design stage. ASP in particular, will work incredibly well with this hosting package. Additionally, if you wish to utilise a database search facility, then then the Windows hosting package will enable the speedy and simple integration of a database to your website.

MySQL, PHP and Perl languages will work best with the Linux hosting package as Linux is ideal for the types of sites that display information in the guise of data sheets, brochures and newsletters. It is also particularly good for interactive ‘brochure-ware’ sites that use enquiry forms and common e-commerce functions such as on-line purchasing.

Flexibility And Affordability

Linux web hosting is favoured by many because of its flexibility, as well as for its affordability. Launched in 1991, Linux was initially designed with Intel based computers in mind. Linux was also notable in its early days because of how it was freely available. Now, it is among the leading types of web operating systems, along with Microsoft, Unix, and Macintosh.

Options Connecting To Your Server

Linux web hosting will often offer a variety ways of connecting to your server.

Linux web hosting will often offer a variety ways of connecting to your server. Linux can not only offer FTP access regarding your files, but telnet and ssh access as well. Telnet and SSH allow for web pages to be changed on the web server itself. CGI and Perl will also normally be available on Linux servers.

HTML And Javascript, Databases, Forms, Side Scripts

HTML pages and Javascript can be served by Linux servers, though not all will be able serve FrontPage extensions. For databases, mySQL can be utilized using Linux web hosting, but Access can’t. For creating forms, PHP will be, on most occasions, available for anyone working with Linux web hosting. ColdFusion will also be another option when it comes to server side scripts.

Rivals To Linux Web Hosting

Similar to Linux web hosting is Unix, though because of its cost in setting up it’s not nearly so popular as Linux. Windows is the biggest rival to Linux, and will offer some features that Linux doesn’t, but Linux web hosting is more flexible than Windows web hosting overall.

Security

Security is always a major consideration for anyone thinking of making use of web hosting, and one thing that Linux and Windows have in common is that they are not infallible. However, if good administration is in place then any security issues can be quickly countered. Linux is also seen by many to be less vulnerable than Windows, but this is still factually unproven.

Try Cloud Web Hosting

Cloud web hosting is the ideal solution for those who require more space than you can get from traditional web hosting options. Fast growing businesses will benefit greatly from cloud web hosting as this style of web hosting means that your hosting will grow with the needs of your business. There are less fixed limits of resources. Cloud web hosting is part of a revolution in data storage, with many businesses turning to cloud web hosting as their ideal solution.

It’s the economic option too – you only need to pay for your exact cloud web hosting needs, rather than having to make estimates of what you think you will need.

There are different cloud web hosting options to choose from including public, private and hybrid options. Public web hosting is your traditional general option with resources publicly available across the internet. Private web hosting is a great option for companies, allowing a private network access to cloud hosting space. It is private as it is usually behind a firewall. This gives companies that great, convenient and economical option of cloud web hosting, with all the advantages of a private network.

The hybrid option is a combination of the two – public and private. This option offers regulated use of the hosting services but with the cost effective model of public cloud web hosting.

Whatever your business needs, this is an ideal web hosting choice, maximising the use of resources and utilising cutting edge web hosting technology to help your business grow online.

History Of openSUSE

SUSE Linux logo

SUSE Linux was started by SUSE, a German technology company, with the goal of developing a Linux distribution to be used in corporate environments. SUSE Linux was designed to be at home on both servers and on workstations. The SUSE Linux brand was acquired by Novell in 2004. Soon after the brand was acquired, SUSE Linux was entirely open-sourced and released to the community as openSUSE. openSUSE has an open development model, and welcomes contributions and input from third-party developers. At the same time, many corporations (including AMD and SUSE) hire developers to work full-time on improving the distribution.

How Does openSUSE Differ From Other Linux Distributions?

Official openSUSE logo

openSUSE is most notable for YaST, which is a central configuration tool for the entire operating system. Instead of editing configuration files (mostly found in the /etc directory on Linux systems) by hand, YaST allows users and system administrators to easily configure every aspect of their system. Many system administrators, however, preferred editing these files by hand since they felt they had greater control over them this way. The main goal of YaST is to provide a graphic interface that makes changes to these configuration files in a way that does not interfere with editing them using a text editor; operating in this way makes it easy for novices to configure their system via the graphical interface but makes it possible for experts to understand the changes that were made.

openSUSE is also notable among Linux enthusiasts for having one of the best KDE implementations of any Linux distribution. KDE, also known as the K Desktop Environment, is an entire suite of applications along with a window manager whose stated goal is to make using your computer easy and productive. Between the excellent KDE implementation and the easy-to-use YaST system configuration tool, openSUSE is a great Linux distribution for novices who want to try out KDE.

Also notable is the openSUSE Build Service. This tool is excellent for Linux application developers; it allows developers to build packages for all major distributions, such as Ubuntu, Debian and Fedora, on the same machine. Since one of the major headaches for Linux developers is having to package your software for so many distributions, having this is a great boon for all Linux developers.

The reason that web hosting costs money is because the data that flows through the Web servers is not free to move. The companies that own Web servers are charged a certain amount for data usage, and they pass that cost on to the customer. However, most professional web hosting companies will also provide maintenance and upgrades to your web hosting experience so that you do not have to worry about any of the technical aspects of hosting a website on the Internet. After all, the physical hosting server is not in your possession. If they did not take care of the maintenance, there would be no one to fix your website if something happened to the physical server or the data within it.

If you have the proper expertise, you can actually purchase your own Web server and host your own websites. The only criteria for having a website is that you have a server that is capable of connecting to the Internet backbone. Barring this, you will most likely want to invest in a Web server with the appropriate amount of webspace and the proper expertise in hosting a website efficiently.

Uptime with Htop

You should look for a web hosting service that is familiar with all types of files. You should invest only in a web hosting service that is able to translate your website onto all different sorts of mediums, including desktops, laptops, mobile phones and tablets. You should also invest in a hosting service that guarantees your “uptime,” or the amount of time that your website will be online out of the time that it has its data on the server. Ideally, your uptime should be 100%, and web hosts can ensure that this happens by what is known as a “redundant server.”

Online Pagerank and Social Signals Checker

A domain registration and a website form the basis of an online presence, and at one point those two components and an e-mail address were the sole foundations of Internet properties. Now that online social networking has become the center of Internet activity, websites are expected to establish a social media presence as well. There are several options, starting with the wildly popular Facebook and its rival Google Plus.

Online social networks come and go, as evidenced by MySpace and Friendster, and many webmasters choose to establish a presence in several of them at once. The typical trilogy involves Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus. Other webmasters prefer to narrow their social media presence to trendy and burgeoning networks like tumblr or Pinterest.

Using Google Plus for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

If the motive behind joining a social network is to boost SERP ranking, webmasters should strongly consider Google Plus – but only if they are willing to follow a certain strategy that goes far beyond setting up a Google Plus profile.

With regard to the effect that a Google+ profile has on organic search results, the company claims that search ads with social annotations will have an improved click-through rate between 5 and 10 percent. This is due to the increased traffic that a strong social footprint brings, but it must be cultivated. This is not limited to Google+; in fact, any Internet property with a strong social media presence can increase traffic to a website, which in the long run is an influential factor for organic search and SERP ranking.

Google will also reward popular profiles with higher SERP placement, and to this end it is vital for webmasters to try to be in as many Google Plus social circles as possible.

Internet users flock to online social networks to find fresh content and to be engaged. A webmaster who decides to set up a Google+ profile must frequently provide followers with appealing, and must also engage followers by answering questions, providing recommendations and responding to comments. This will eventually translate into more followers and a higher rate of +1 clicks – the Google equivalent to Facebook’s “Like” button.

If you are a webmaster and you want to get a quick overview about all the social signals of your own domain like f.e. Google +1’s, Facebook Shares and Twitter Counts you can use serveral special services. One of those is PagerankChecker.com which allows you to get all kind of social signals for your website.

rsync and luckyBackup: Ultimate Backup Flexibility

This terminal-based program is the gold standard of Linux backup solutions, allowing users to clone files and directories between different devices in just about every way imaginable. Most servers in use today are backed up using shell scripts to control this program. luckyBackup is a frontend that makes rsync’s functionality more accessible, while adding features like email notifications.

DejaDup: The Easiest of the Physical Linux Backup Solutions

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Gnome-based DejaDup. This program uses wizards to guide users through the backup process to make it as painless as possible. Once set up, the window has just two buttons: “backup” and “restore.”

Dropbox: The Leader in Cloud-based Linux Backup Solutions

One of the first cloud-based Linux backup services, this service has a simple file manager-based interface, letting users specify which folders should automatically be backed up on their servers. Packages for the installer are available for Debian, Ubuntu and Fedora, while the source code is also available to compile for other distros. 2GB of storage is free, and more can be added for a fee.

Ubuntu One: Easy to Use, Hard to Install

Functionally, Canonical’s own Linux Backup Solution is nearly identical to Dropbox, and is already installed in most forks of Ubuntu. It integrates seamlessly with Nautilus, letting users sync folders with the service with a couple clicks. It can also work in tandem with Ubuntu’s music store, letting users keep their audio files on hand anywhere.

Unfortunately, clients aren’t readily available: Outside Ubuntu, there are clients for Windows, Android, and iDevices. The underlying client software is open source, permitting other distributions to port it to their own platforms, but for now no one else provides official support.

SpiderOak: The Most Secure of the Linux Backup Solutions

Another Dropbox-like service, it doesn’t have an open source client, but unlike the other Linux backup solutions, it has native support for Slackware and OpenSUSE. Data going to and from the service is encrypted, making it unviewable even to SpiderOak’s own employees.

Linux Firewall versus Windows Firewall

Resource usage: just like in server and desktop editions, a Linux firewall can get by with far less in system resources than its Windows based brethren. Since there is no bloated OS to run, a Linux firewall will do more with less.

Stability and Uptime: again, this is very similar to the pros and cons of using desktop and server Linux. Because Windows machines have a resource-intensive operating system on top of their intended functions, a Windows firewall will be more prone to crashes and downtime than a Linux firewall.

Cost: More hardware is required to build a Windows based firewall. Add to that the cost of OS licensing and fees for dedicated software like Microsoft Forefront and a Windows firewall becomes an expensive proposition. In the meantime, most Linux firewall distros are free. On top of that, a Linux box can be built at a far hardware lower cost.

Linux Firewall versus Dedicated Hardware

Device Flexibility: Dedicated firewall hardware providers are careful to lock down their products to the core features they’re selling. There is usually no other interesting functionality built in to a hardware firewall. Unless you pay extra, that is. Since firewall on Linux is open source, its functionality is always being expanded. Want to alter your firewall for greater intrusion detection or traffic shaping? You can do that with Linux.

Security: Buying a hardware firewall model means buying the same fireall that thousands of other companies may have. This means any exploits discovered on that model suddenly become everyone’s problem. Using a Linux based firewall means you can customize every option, including security, for a unique and hard to hack firewall.

Linux Wiki has fundamental content, designed and implemented by interested editors or perhaps a founder. Centered on the home page is a large table showing Popular Linux Software and Top Ten Distros (Linux distributions). Anyone visiting the site and seeking to add Linux to a computer can click on one of the Distro links, and proceed to download a version of Linux. These include Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Fedora, Debian, PCLinuxOS, and others. Launching upon Linux use for the first time on a desktop is a thrilling process, even if one wishes later to delete the operating system and revert purely to Windows.

As for Linux software, Linux Wiki lists almost forty different software releases for Linux. These include the graphical user interfaces or desktop environments of Gnome, KDE, and others. They are found at the heart of Linux desktop releases. There are also Linux programs for media editing and playback and artistic design. These might be less frequently used by everyday computer users than would the Internet releases of Firefox, Chromium (Chrome), and Opera, along with the Office releases of Open Office, and the communications releases of Pidgin and Skype. The great thing about this software, and all Linux software, is that it is free!

Linux Wiki is a fun place to visit for anyone who has ever used Linux, and even those who haven’t, but who still might some day. Linux and Linux software are all free, and all readily available for quick download from an abundance of websites. Easy to install and use, too, just as the Linux Wiki shows. All in all, Linux Wiki is a great and useful resource.

How does the Linux kernel work?

Linux is a monolithic kernel, encompassing hardware drivers, file systems, system calls, and inter-process communications. Hardware and file systems essentially have super user access to the system. This can be modified by turning on and off internal options, as well as loading kernel modules which add additional driver support.

The Linux kernel file name begins with “vmlinuz,” showing it was compressed with Zlib and supports virtual memory. At the end of the file name will be a string of numbers showing the version and patches. For example, “3.0.0-12-generic” is Linux 3.0.0 version 12 with no patches. There will also be a file starting with “config” that lists which options should be enabled when the Linux kernel is compiled. Kernel module files end in “.ko,” and are typically stored in the /lib/modules directory.

Why would someone want to modify their system’s Linux kernel?

With Linux’s massive driver and platform support, there are bound to be several things enabled in the kernel by default that aren’t necessary for a particular system. Many distributions disable non-free drives by default, while brand new devices may not have had drivers added to the kernel yet. These can be enabled by patching.

How can the Linux kernel be patched?

Each distro will have its own idiosyncrasies when it comes to compiling a new kernel, but there are a few basic steps shared by all distributions:

• Download the Linux kernel source code
• Use a utility to tweak the settings of the config file. Nconfig and menuconfig are the most common, and are usually included with the kernel source code package.
• Compile the kernel
• Change the boot loader settings to use the newly-patched Linux kernel

If driver support is built into the kernel, how can video and printer drivers be enabled and disabled without recompiling?

Linux is based around the terminal, which only requires text output. Graphics are handled by an X Windows system, usually X.org or XFree86. When changing driver settings, it’s altering the configuration of X, not the kernel. Likewise, printer support is handled externally by CUPS.